Marine anthropogenic litter on British beaches: A 10-year nationwide assessment using citizen science data

S E Nelms; C Coombes; L C Foster; T S Galloway; B J Godley; P K Lindeque; M J Witt

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.11.137

Marine anthropogenic litter on British beaches: A 10-year nationwide assessment using citizen science data

Sci Total Environ. 2017 Feb 1:579:1399-1409. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.11.137. Epub 2016 Nov 29.

Authors

S E Nelms¹, C Coombes², L C Foster², T S Galloway³, B J Godley⁴, P K Lindeque⁵, M J Witt⁶

Affiliations

¹ Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK. Electronic address: s.nelms@exeter.ac.uk.
² Marine Conservation Society, Ross on Wye HR9 7US, UK.
³ Biosciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, University of Exeter, Devon EX4 4QD, UK.
⁴ Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK; Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK.
⁵ Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK.
⁶ Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK.

PMID: 27913017
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.11.137

Abstract

Growing evidence suggests that anthropogenic litter, particularly plastic, represents a highly pervasive and persistent threat to global marine ecosystems. Multinational research is progressing to characterise its sources, distribution and abundance so that interventions aimed at reducing future inputs and clearing extant litter can be developed. Citizen science projects, whereby members of the public gather information, offer a low-cost method of collecting large volumes of data with considerable temporal and spatial coverage. Furthermore, such projects raise awareness of environmental issues and can lead to positive changes in behaviours and attitudes. We present data collected over a decade (2005-2014 inclusive) by Marine Conservation Society (MCS) volunteers during beach litter surveys carried along the British coastline, with the aim of increasing knowledge on the composition, spatial distribution and temporal trends of coastal debris. Unlike many citizen science projects, the MCS beach litter survey programme gathers information on the number of volunteers, duration of surveys and distances covered. This comprehensive information provides an opportunity to standardise data for variation in sampling effort among surveys, enhancing the value of outputs and robustness of findings. We found that plastic is the main constituent of anthropogenic litter on British beaches and the majority of traceable items originate from land-based sources, such as public littering. We identify the coast of the Western English Channel and Celtic Sea as experiencing the highest relative litter levels. Increasing trends over the 10-year time period were detected for a number of individual item categories, yet no statistically significant change in total (effort-corrected) litter was detected. We discuss the limitations of the dataset and make recommendations for future work. The study demonstrates the value of citizen science data in providing insights that would otherwise not be possible due to logistical and financial constraints of running government-funded sampling programmes on such large scales.

Keywords: Beach clean; Citizen science; Marine anthropogenic litter; Plastic pollution; Spatial pattern; Temporal trend.

MeSH terms

Bathing Beaches / statistics & numerical data
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Plastics / analysis
Waste Products / analysis*
Waste Products / statistics & numerical data
Water Pollutants / analysis
Water Pollution / statistics & numerical data*

Substances

Plastics
Waste Products
Water Pollutants